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NCT Number: NCT06964815

Silibinin in Association With Concomitant Chemoradiotherapy and Maintenance Temozolomide in STAT3 Positive IDH Wild-type, Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma Patients

Multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial.

Patients affected by STAT3 positive newly diagnosed glioblastoma will be eligible. Patients are randomized using a stratified block randomization method with a 1:1 ratio in two arms:

• Experimental/Control arm: Concomitant radiotherapy (60 gy in 30 fractions) + temozolomide 75mg/mq + silibinin/placebo 2 sachets/day dissolved in water throughout concomitant treatment followed by temozolomide cp, 150 mg/m2-200mg/m2, g1-5 q28d + silibinin/placebo 2 sachets/day dissolved in water, day 1-28, q28d for 6-12 cycles. Silibinin/Placebo may be continued until disease progression at the discretion of the physician.

Patients will be stratified based on:

* Type of surgery (complete Vs partial) * MGMT methylation status (methylated Vs non-methylated) * ECOG PS (0-1 Vs 2)

Recruiting

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Key information

Age range

18 year–99 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

IRCCS Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, Bologna, BO, Italy

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Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • New histologically confirmed diagnosis of glioblastoma (WHO 2021)
  • Local availability of MGMT methylation status
  • Immunohistochemical positivity of activated STAT3 (pSTAT3) expression on the tumor tissue sample. STAT3 expression will be evaluated centrally by UOC Anatomia Patologica of Azienda Ospedale Università di Padova.
  • Chemoradiotherapy start within 7 weeks from surgery
  • Patients without disease progression after surgery
  • Availability of paraffin-embedded tumor tissue
  • Age ≥18 years
  • ECOG PS 0-2; Karnofsky 100-70
  • Signing of informed consent prior to any study procedure
  • Patients (both males and females) should employ adequate contraceptive measures, which should be maintained during the whole duration of the trial (from screening to 6 months after the last dose of Temozolomide).
  • Have adequate bone marrow, liver and kidney function, as measured by the following laboratory assessments conducted within 10 days before the start of study treatment:
  • Hemoglobin > 9.0 g/dl
  • Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) ≥1500/mm3 without granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) and other hematopoietic growth factors
  • Platelet count ≥100,000/μl
  • WBC ≥3.0 x 10 9 /L
  • Total bilirubin <1.5 times the upper limit of normal
  • ALT and AST <3 x the upper limit of normal
  • Serum creatinine <1.5 times the upper limit of normal
  • Glomerular filtration rate ≥ 30 mL/min/1.73 m2 according to the abbreviated formula Modified Diet in Renal Disease
  • Alkaline phosphatase <2.5 x ULN
  • PT-INR/PTT <1.5 x upper limit of normal (patients who are therapeutically anticoagulated with anticoagulant drugs will be able to participate provided there is no history of abnormal background in these parameters, based on history).
  • Complete urinalysis
  • Stable and decreasing corticosteroid dosage in the last 10 days before brain MRI

Exclusion criteria

  • Patients diagnosed with glioblastoma (WHO grade IV 2021) who have only had a diagnostic biopsy
  • Chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or antineoplastic therapy for glioblastoma
  • Negative immunohistochemistry of STAT3 expression on the tumor tissue sample
  • Diagnosis of another tumor or secondary brain localization
  • In the investigator's judgment, any evidence of severe or uncontrolled systemic disease including: uncontrolled hypertension; hemorrhagic diathesis; active infection with HBV, HCV, HIV. Screening for such chronic conditions is not required by the protocol; bone marrow reserve or organ dysfunction as demonstrated by laboratory tests.
  • Patients who are unable to comply with study procedures and requirements.
  • Contraindication to Brain MRI
  • Pregnant or breastfeeding patients
  • Patients who are unable to swallow capsules or sachets dissolved in water.
  • Patient unable to sign the Informed Consent
  • Glioblastoma leptomeningeal dissemination
  • Congestive heart failure classified as New York Heart Association (NYHA) Class 2 or higher; Unstable angina (symptoms of angina at rest) or new onset angina ≤3 months prior to screening; myocardial infarction <6 months prior to 'start of study treatment; cardiac arrhythmias requiring antiarrhythmic therapy, with the exception of beta-blockers or digoxin; uncontrolled hypertension (systolic blood pressure [SBP]>140 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure [DBP] >90 mmHg) despite optimal medical management.
  • Arterial thrombotic or embolic events such as stroke and/or transient ischemic attacks) or
  • Pulmonary embolism in the 6 months prior to the start of study treatment
  • Ongoing infection with grade 2 or higher severity (NCI-CTCAE v 5.0)
  • Known history of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection; hepatitis B or C active or chronic requiring treatment with antiviral therapy
  • History of organ allotransplantation
  • Evidence or history of any bleeding diathesis (including mild hemophilia), regardless of its severity;
  • Injuries, ulcers or bone fractures that have not fully resolved.
  • Renal failure requiring hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis
  • Presenting interstitial lung disease with ongoing signs and symptoms at the time informed consent is obtained.
  • Persistent proteinuria >3.5 g/24 hours as measured by urinary protein-creatinine ratio from a urine sample (≥ Grade 3, NCI-CTCAE v 5.0). CTCAE 5.0 is also available in Appendix 1.

Treatment and study plan

Silibinin as STAT3 inhibitor

Dietary Supplement

Sillbrain will be available as granulate in sachets of 3.7g and it will be administered twice a day during chemo-radiotherapy and day 1-28 in maintenance phase every cycle. Each 3.7 g sachet of Sillbrain contains 500 mg silibinin. Every patient will assume 2 sachets/day for a total of 1 g/day of silibinin.

Placebo

Other

Placebo will be available as granulate in sachets of 3.7g and it will be administered twice a day during chemo-radiotherapy and day 1-28 in maintenance phase every cycle. Every patient will assume 2 sachets/day for a total of 1 g/day of placebo.

Primary outcomes

  1. Progression Free Survival (PFS)

    Time frame: Through study completion, an average of 2 years

    Evaluation of Progression Free Survival (PFS) in patients with newly diagnosed IDH wild-type and STAT3-positive glioblastoma using silibinin 2 sachets per day (1g/day), during chemoradiotherapy and maintenance treatment with temozolomide, compared with placebo. The progression free survival (PFS) will be determined as the time from the date of randomization to the date of disease progression determined using RANO 2.0 criteria or to the date of death, whichever occurs first. Patients without a PFS event at the time of analysis will be censored at the date of last assessment.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Liver Toxicity

    Time frame: Through study completion, an average of 2 years

    Evaluation of liver toxicity. Assessment of liver toxicity will be derived from the assay of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) weekly during concomitant radio-chemotherapy treatment and monthly during maintenance temozolomide treatment, using the CTCAE v5.0 system to determine the degree of toxicity

  2. Liver Toxicity

    Time frame: Through study completion, an average of 2 years

    Evaluation of liver toxicity. Assessment of liver toxicity will be derived from the assay of total and direct blood bilirubin weekly during concomitant radio-chemotherapy treatment and monthly during maintenance temozolomide treatment, using the CTCAE v5.0 system to determine the degree of toxicity

  3. Liver Toxicity

    Time frame: Through study completion, an average of 2 years

    Evaluation of liver toxicity. Assessment of liver toxicity will be derived from the assay of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) weekly during concomitant radio-chemotherapy treatment and monthly during maintenance temozolomide treatment, using the CTCAE v5.0 system to determine the degree of toxicity

  4. 6/9-months Progression Free Survival (6/9m-PFS)

    Time frame: Through study completion, an average of 2 years

    Evaluation of 6/9-months Progression Free Survival (6/9m-PFS). The progression free survival at 6/9 months (6/9m-PFS) will be determined as the percentage of patient with progression of disease at 6 and 9 months

  5. Objective Response Rate (ORR)

    Time frame: Through study completion, an average of 2 years

    Evaluation of Objective Response Rate (ORR). The objective response rate (ORR) will be defined as the percentage of patients with complete response (CR) and partial response (PR) determined using modified RANO criteria

  6. EORTC QLQ-C30_Quality of Life

    Time frame: Through study completion, an average of 2 years

    Evaluation of Quality of Life assessed by EORTC QLQ-C30. EORTC QLQ-C30 has robust psychometric properties resulting from their use in several international cancer clinical trials. The EORTC QLQ-C30 (Aaronson et al, 1988) is a core measure designed to be supplemented with the disease specific module.

  7. QLQ-BN20_Quality of Life

    Time frame: Through study completion, an average of 2 years

    Evaluation of Quality of Life assessed by QLQ-BN20. QLQBN20 has robust psychometric properties resulting from their use in several international cancer clinical trials.

Study contacts

Contact information is provided by the study sponsor or research team.

Giuseppe Lombardi, MD

CONTACT

[email protected]

0498215888

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Istituto Oncologico Veneto IRCCS

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Silibinin in Association With Concomitant Chemoradiotherapy and Maintenance Temozolomide in STAT3 Positive IDH Wild-type, Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma Patients: a Multicenter, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled, Randomized Study

Acronym: STRONG

Important dates

Study start
2025
Primary completion
2027
Study completion
2027
First posted
May 9, 2025
Registry last updated
Dec 2, 2025

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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